


Cashmere Cryptid

by Mntsnflrs



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, annoying boyfriends, side jeno/renjun, this is 5k of jaemin kissy faces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mntsnflrs/pseuds/Mntsnflrs
Summary: “Hi,” Jaemin said, making no move to sit. He smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth, even whiter than his perfectly styled hair.He looked like a model.He looked like a god.He looked down at Donghyuck’s bell pepper stain and his smile widened. “Have you already eaten?”Donghyuck was running out of hypothetical fists to shove in his mouth. He’d have to start borrowing Renjun’s. “No,” he said, voice weak. “This is just an old shirt.”
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 57
Kudos: 517





	Cashmere Cryptid

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it is exactly what u wanted, honey!!! I loved my first venture into nahyuck!
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys! xo

Donghyuck didn’t pride himself on being a mess, but he didn’t try to pretend he was more organised than he was either. If you asked him, there was a certain charm to looking like you’d been wearing the same clothes for three nights running.

“There’s no charm in it,” Renjun said, unamused. “I don’t like recognising the stains on your unwashed shirts.” He pointed. “I don’t like knowing that this particular spot is from that slice of bell pepper Chenle threw at you on Saturday. It would wash out if you actually _washed_ it.”

“Why would I bother?” Donghyuck asked. He lifted his arm and sniffed despite the way Renjun’s head receded into his neck, a sure sign of disgust. “I don’t smell bad. I’m not attracting flies, unless I count you. Why would I go out of my way to do extra washing when this shirt is wearable for at least one more day?”

“Maybe so that you don’t embarrass me in public? That would be a nice change.”

Donghyuck kicked Renjun’s shin. “I don’t embarrass you,” he said, pouting.

Renjun frowned, reaching down to rub his shin. “Not because of your shirts, anyway,” he muttered.

“Besides,” Donghyuck continued, throwing his arms back, spreading across the concerningly sticky leather of the booth, “If Jeno is as smitten with you as you say he is, surely a stinky friend won’t put him off, right?”

Renjun looked around the cafe to check that people weren’t listening, his expression full of dismay. “You just said you don’t smell!”

Donghyuck laughed. “I don’t smell, Renjun. I just like making you miserable.”

He should have known, really. Those who crossed Renjun regretted it, either immediately or at an unexpected point in time. His wrath was like a curse.

Renjun picked up his phone without another word, lifting it to his ear. “Jeno baby, have you left your lecture hall yet? No? Okay. Hyuck and I are at the cafe, but don’t rush. In fact, why don’t you invite Jaemin along? I think he’d get on well with Hyuck.” He smiled at Donghyuck, pretty and spiteful. “They’ll be the best kind of friends, I’m sure.”

-

But, despite what Renjun would say, Donghyuck hadn’t actually intended on wearing a stained shirt to meet his best friend’s new boyfriend. He’d had a sweater and tight jeans all planned out, something modest but fitted at the same time, something that said, _you can trust me_.

That had flown out of his apartment window when Renjun had picked the lock and barged in, pulling Donghyuck from his bed by the ankles and demanding he get ready to go for lunch.

He hadn’t been given the time to find his sweater, or his jeans. Hell, Renjun had barely given him time to brush his teeth before he was dragging Donghyuck out of the apartment and insisting on good behaviour.

So, this particular example of Donghyuck’s messiness wasn’t actually his fault. Like he’d said though, he wasn’t going to pretend he would never go out dressed in a stained shirts and grey sweats, because he definitely would. Just – not for something as pivotal as this. Not for Renjun’s sake.

Not that it turned out to matter in the slightest.

Jeno arrived with his friend in tow, and from the second he stepped into the café, his eyes didn’t leave Renjun. It would have been sweet if it hadn’t been so vomit-inducing.

“You must be Donghyuck,” Jeno said, eyes firmly on Renjun. “Nice to meet you. Junnie has told me so much.”

“None of it pleasant, I’m sure,” Donghyuck mumbled. Louder, he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Jeno finally looked at Donghyuck, just long enough to smile so kindly that Donghyuck wanted to shove his own fist in his mouth. Damn it. Jeno really did appear as lovely as Renjun had said (in his diary that Donghyuck definitely hadn’t read).

“This is my best friend, Jaemin,” Jeno said, gesturing to the boy beside him. He laughed, a little awkward but almost entirely endearing. “Renjun’s suggestion was a good call. I would have hated to make you feel like a third wheel or something.”

Donghyuck looked at Jaemin, and the yearning for one fist in his mouth turned into a yearning for two. Jaemin was probably the most put together person Donghyuck had ever seen in his life. Forget Mark in his church clothes; this was on another level entirely. This was business chic, student couture, rich kid fitted fucking cashmere camel coloured sweater and matching skinny corduroys.

“Hi,” Jaemin said, making no move to sit. He smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth, even whiter than his perfectly styled hair.

He looked like a model.

He looked like a _god._

He looked down at Donghyuck’s bell pepper stain and his smile widened. “Have you already eaten?”

Donghyuck was running out of hypothetical fists to shove in his mouth. He’d have to start borrowing Renjun’s. “No,” he said, voice weak. “This is just an old shirt.”

“I see.” Jaemin glanced at the menu, apparently content to ignore the way Renjun was already pawing all over Jeno’s face, squeezed tightly together at the other side of the booth. “Well, do you want to eat now? I’ll buy.”

Fuck it. There weren’t enough fists in the world to go in Donghyuck’s mouth.

“Uh,” he said, trying not to cry manly tears. “Are you sure?”

Jaemin’s smile softened, his pretty eyes sparkling. “Absolutely. Why don’t you pick what you want and I’ll go up and order for us now? It’ll be a while until Jeno is lucid enough to realise there’s a world outside of Renjun that requires him to eat.”

Donghyuck chose a grilled cheese. He’d be less likely to throw food on himself if it were one whole unit he could hold with his hands. “Thank you,” he managed to get out past the proposal lodged in his throat.

“You’re welcome,” Jaemin said gently. “It’s Donghyuck, right?” At Donghyuck’s nod, Jaemin smiled again. He’d smiled more in thirty seconds than Renjun in the past week. “Well, it’s good to meet you. I hope we get along well, since our friends have already forgotten we’re here.”

Donghyuck glanced over. Jeno was staring at Renjun, his eyes big and sparkling. Renjun was making a pathetic attempt of acting like he wasn’t enjoying the attention, his cheeks and neck a blushing pink. “Yeah,” Donghyuck managed. “I hope we get along.”

“I’m sure we will,” Jaemin said, patting his pockets to check for his wallet. “Do you want a coffee while I’m ordering?”

“If you don’t mind,” Donghyuck said. “Uh, a latte would be great thanks.”

Jaemin nodded, then turned to the counter and proceeded to melt the waitress into a puddle of longing. Not that Donghyuck could blame her – his toes were decidedly liquid in his sneakers.

When Jaemin returned with two tall mugs of cream and sprinkles, he passed one over to Donghyuck and finally took a seat.

“Thank you,” Donghyuck said, staring down at the monstrosity of the drink.

“The sweet girl behind the counter gave us extra toppings for free!” Jaemin said, delighted. “Wasn’t that nice?”

“So nice,” Donghyuck said faintly. He took a sip of his coffee and only just stopped himself from spitting it out when the liquid tar touched his tongue and seared off his tastebuds. “Oh _fuck!”_

Jaemin blinked, unperturbed. “Ah, sorry. That must be mine.” He swapped the drinks quickly, taking a quick sip before nodding. “Yeah, this one is mine. I must have mixed the mugs.”

Donghyuck was still trying to resuscitate his tongue from beyond the grave. “What the hell did you order?”

“Coffee.”

Coffee that not only tasted like shit, but that could have actually murdered someone weaker than Donghyuck. If an old person took a sip of that drink, Jaemin might have ended up in jail. “Yeah, I can tell it’s coffee,” Donghyuck said. “But it tastes like ass.”

Jaemin winked, lips to the rim of the mug. “That’s just the way I like my coffee.”

“You like your coffee to taste like ass?”

Jaemin shrugged, his smile now on simmer instead of boil. “When you can’t have the real thing, coffee must suffice.”

It wasn’t attraction that hit Donghyuck’s stomach then, but maybe something close. Hatred? No, nothing that violent. Adoration? Too mushy. Something else, something hot and annoying but beguiling in its own way. Something that Donghyuck could already tell would be a very specific Jaemin kind of emotion. Caught halfway between aggression and flirtation, Donghyuck just glared.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, but it wasn’t until the end of the lunch, when he was sat in an econ lecture, bored and full of grilled cheese, that he remembered to check his messages.

The first was from Renjun.

_He’s single and he’s into you. I gave him your number, and he’ll be at Mark’s party on Friday. Make sure you wear something CLEAN. I know you hate me now, but to future you: you’re welcome._

He should have known, really. Those who crossed Renjun regretted it, either immediately or at an unexpected point in time.

It was now that Donghyuck regretted it. The moment he checked his messages and saw a kissy emoji from a new, unfamiliar number, followed by a chain of emoticons so disconcertingly detailed that they resembled their own language. They seemed to tell the story of two people meeting, falling in love, and then holding hands.

Donghyuck set the new number to Jaemin’s name and blocked Renjun on all social media.

-

Jaemin messaged Donghyuck a lot.

Donghyuck would have been flattered if he hadn’t mentioned it to Jisung, only to find out that Jaemin was just like that. From Jisung’s bleak expression in the practice room’s floor length mirror, Jaemin was an ever-happy, ever-talkative person that checked in on his friends at least three times daily.

“He’s great,” Jisung said. “But not at seven in the morning when I’m already running late, and he wants to call just to talk about what he should wear to his midday presentation.”

Donghyuck cringed. “He’s a morning person?”

“Only after his coffee, but I don’t think he’s ever gone longer than a couple of hours without it. So, yeah. He kind of is.”

Ah. The tar coffee. The taste that left Donghyuck with nightmares and depressed tastebuds. “What the hell is in his coffee anyway?”

Jisung shrugged. “Like five shots of espresso or something. Jaemin is half a good guy and half a caffeine cryptid.”

Donghyuck couldn’t help but question his own sanity when the knowledge of Jaemin’s somewhat gremlinesque side made him seem more appealing. “What makes you say he’s a cryptid?”

“I can’t really tell you,” Jisung said. “He just has that bog creature vibe, you know? Charming but maybe hiding moss in his pockets.”

Donghyuck couldn’t really agree, considering the only pockets he’d seen on Jaemin were definitely cashmere. No right-minded person would put dirty moss on cashmere. “I’m not sure I see it.”

Jisung smiled in the mirror, alarmingly grim. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You will.”

-

Annoyingly, it took less than two days for Donghyuck to start enjoying Jaemin’s never-ending stream of messages. Sometimes they were asking about Donghyuck’s day, his interests, his extended family, and sometimes they were jokes so painfully bad that Donghyuck couldn’t help but cringe, shoving his face into his pillow, trying to will away his smile.

By Friday morning Donghyuck was already used to the chirpy good morning text he saw when he emerged from the abyss of his pit, and he was already used to replying with an emoji happier than he had ever been at eight a.m.

 _I can’t wait to see you tonight_ , Jaemin’s second text read. _Will your shirt be the same? Renjun said you wear it often_ 😊

Over messages Donghyuck couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic, or if Jaemin was genuinely adding emoji’s like punctuation as he always seemed to.

 _No,_ Donghyuck replied. _I’ll make sure to wear something nice._

_Even better! I can’t wait to see how you look. If you knocked me off my feet when you’d just been dragged from your bed, I can only imagine how much better it can get. I’m excited to see the Donghyuck that has everyone daydreaming~_

It felt like a challenge. Donghyuck wasn’t on Renjun’s level of competitiveness, but if the goal was to inject himself into Jaemin’s daydreams, he’d try his damn best to achieve it. Cashmere cryptid or otherwise, Jaemin was a pretty boy that Donghyuck wanted to impress.

-

“You blocked me,” Renjun said as he let Donghyuck into his dorm. He gave Donghyuck a once over. “You look great.”

“You pissed me off,” Donghyuck said, kissing Renjun on the cheek, leaving a print of sparkly pink gloss. “There. We’re even now.”

Renjun wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, frowning. “I want to be angrier, but you look so good that I can’t really muster up the focus. It’s been like eight months since I’ve seen you wear jeans that fit you. I’d forgotten what your legs looked like outside of sweatpants.” His gaze turned sly. “Is this for a certain Na Jaemin that’s already on his way to being drunk in Mark’s lounge?”

“My skinny jeans and clean shirt are my business only,” Donghyuck said, flicking the ends of his hair out of his eyes. If he’d curled his hair, so what? If he’d worn his favourite Chelsea boots, so what? “Besides, you can’t say anything. Are you wearing Jeno’s shirt?”

“It suits me better,” Renjun said, unapologetic. “And I figure that if I steal enough of his shirts he might give up and just stop wearing them altogether. That would be ideal, really.”

Donghyuck grimaced. “For you, yeah. I don’t want to see your boyfriend’s nipples.”

“Why not? They’re nice.”

“Are you seriously getting offended?”

Renjun frowned. “Jeno has a beautiful chest.”

“Dude,” Donghyuck said. “Matrimonial bliss has changed you. When have you ever defended someone that wasn’t Jisung or Chenle?”

Renjun stuck his nose in the air, but it was obvious from the twitch at the corner of his mouth that he was holding back a smile. “Things are different now. I have a family to support.”

“Yeah, I’m your kid. Support me.”

“I am,” Renjun said, finally grabbing his keys. “Why’d you think I gave Jaemin your number? I only want my baby marrying someone appropriate.”

They locked up the dorm quickly and begun the walk to Mark’s apartment, much nicer than a dorm but also much messier. It didn’t help that he lived with Jaehyun, who expended all of his energy on staring at Doyoung. By the time he made it home he must have been so exhausted that he couldn’t even pick up his dirty towel from the living room floor. Donghyuck’s crush had been somewhat ruined after seeing Jaehyun’s pile of mouldering towels. He was no stranger to mess and dirt, but seeing a sentient towel crawl slowly across the floor was enough to send anyone into a fit of hysterical screaming.

It did beg another question though.

Donghyuck nudged Renjun as they walked. “Is Jaemin clean?”

“As clean as any guy, yeah.” At Donghyuck’s worried look, Renjun laughed. “You _should_ be scared; he’d probably want you to shower every other day. Imagine that!”

Donghyuck altered his gentle nudge into a hard shove. “Stop acting like I’m disgusting! I only wore that shirt because you didn’t give me time to find a clean one.”

“I know,” Renjun said, softening slightly. “Sorry for the short notice. It was our first meet up since we became official and I was freaking out.” He frowned slightly. “I don’t know why, because literally nothing has changed. Well, except for Jeno telling me how cute you are and how cute Jaemin thinks you are. That’s definitely new.”

“Jeno thinks I’m cute too?” Donghyuck fluttered his lashes. “There’s a cheesy foursome porno in here somewhere.”

Renjun scowled. “No thanks. He thinks you’re cute in the way that puppies are. Superficially so, but you’re messier than your worth.”

“Did he say that, or are you assuming it because of how _you_ view me?”

The scowl deepened. “Shut up.”

Donghyuck laughed, rushing forward to ring the bell on Mark’s building. A couple of minutes later they were racing up the stairs, Renjun winning through sheer violence to Donghyuck’s exposed ankles.

Mark opened the door with a dour expression that told them he’d heard their fighting all the way up to his floor. “Hi guys,” he said. “Come on in.”

“You’ve dressed up too,” Renjun said, passing quickly, eyes already greedy for Jeno. “I take it Yukhei is here somewhere.”

Mark turned red immediately. “Stop doing that!”

“Doing what?” Renjun asked, walking away before Mark could reply.

Mark sighed, blowing his hair out of his face. “Knowing my intimate secrets,” he muttered. He turned to Donghyuck. “Hi, Hyuck.”

“Hi. So, _is_ Yukhei here?”

The blush deepened. “Yeah,” Mark said, miserable. “He’s playing beer pong with Yangyang.”

“Has he said you look good?”

Mark nodded. “But he’s pretty wasted already.”

Donghyuck laughed. “I don’t think Yukhei has the ability to lie in any scenario, drunk or otherwise. He’s way too honest for that.”

Mark’s blush deepened. “Whatever, just come in.”

Donghyuck did so, letting Mark close the door behind him as he followed Renjun’s footsteps into the lounge of the small apartment, already full to the brim of swaying bodies and laughing drunks. Yukhei was in the corner playing beer pong with Yangyang, Sungchan, Jaehyun, and Kunhang, but he looked up when Mark followed Donghyuck back into the room, his eyes soft.

Donghyuck ignored them and marched straight to the mini fridge, where he knew from experience that Mark stashed his mini bottles of wine away from the stronger stuff. The first bottle he pulled out was a dry white wine. He scrunched his nose and shoved it back, making a happy noise when the next bottle he retrieved turned out to be a sweet rosé. Much better.

“It makes sense that you like your alcohol sweet,” a voice said behind him.

Donghyuck turned to see Jaemin standing with a beer, smiling his pretty smile, blinking his pretty eyes. His hair was carefully styled, his clothes neat. His jeans were dark, his shirt tucked artfully into his chunky belt, his huge boots polished to a high shine. Once again, he looked more expensive than anything else in sight.

“Why?” Donghyuck asked, brain catching up after a solid thirty seconds of just staring.

“It matches your personality,” Jaemin said.

Somewhere in the room, Renjun was probably choking. “Thanks,” Donghyuck said. He attempted humour, but his words came out more honest than anything else. “But I’m actually kind of a nightmare.”

Jaemin gently clinked their bottles together before raising his own and taking a sip. “Even better,” he said, still smiling. “Wanna watch Mark humiliate himself at beer pong?”

Other than kissing Jaemin, Donghyuck couldn’t think of a better way to spend his evening. “Lead the way,” he said, heart fluttering when Jaemin grabbed his free hand and linked their fingers together before tugging him through the crowd, eyes constant and fond as he looked back to check Donghyuck was smiling too.

-

Donghyuck hadn’t really intended on getting blackout drunk, but as it turned out, being on a team with Jaemin was almost a guaranteed loss, no matter how much effort Donghyuck put into his aim.

“Oh no,” Jaemin said, watching Renjun sink a shot in yet another cups. “Guess we have to drink again.”

Donghyuck wasn’t drunk yet, but the shots were bound to hit him soon. Whenever they decided to descend, he could tell his morning would be spent hunched over the toilet bowl. He threw back the shot and shuddered. “You haven’t even tried to hit a cup yet,” he said to Jaemin, watching with disgust as Renjun stuck his tongue in Jeno’s mouth.

Jaemin shrugged, still smiling his easy smile. “I’m not very competitive,” he said.

“But you’re a _Leo.”_

Jaemin cocked his head, smile deepening. “Some lions like to take it easy.”

Donghyuck pouted, ignoring the way his stomach tightened at the blatant flirting. “But I want to win.”

“Okay,” Jaemin said, as if winning was as easy as deciding upon it. “But it’ll cost you a hungover date tomorrow.”

It was an odd proposition, one Donghyuck hadn’t expected. “Why? Hangovers are the worst.”

Jaemin shrugged. “Good company and nice food might lessen the pain.”

“You have a weird way of flirting,” Donghyuck said. “You want to see me at my worst?”

“If I see you at your worst now, then things can only get better,” Jaemin said. He grabbed Donghyuck’s hand, pulling him close. To Donghyuck’s surprise, Jaemin kept pulling until they were toe to toe, and then he pressed a soft kiss to the middle of Donghyuck’s forehead, his breath smelling like mint and tequila. “Besides,” he whispered, “Jeno is taking Renjun out for lunch tomorrow. Wouldn’t it be fun to crash and annoy them? We could play footsie and feed each other.”

Donghyuck’s heart constricted for one aching moment. He was falling too fast, way too fast. But he couldn’t help it – could anyone? Jaemin had a way about him that said you’d be safe in his care, a constant light that spilled from his aura, a warmth that spoke of happy days ahead, of hands held secure. Donghyuck tipped his head up, grazing their lips together. It wasn’t quite a kiss, but that could always come later. “I’d like nothing more,” he said.

Jaemin smiled again, wide and sparkling. “Do we have a deal?”

“We do.”

Jaemin nodded. He turned back to the table and took the ping-pong ball offered by Mark, immediately sinking it into the furthest cup. “Drink up, Jeno,” he called. “And maybe grab some water. You’re gonna need it.”

Twenty minutes later and the tequila had truly set in, but Donghyuck had the pride of a hard-won victory under his belt and Renjun’s petulant loser frown to keep him smiling.

That and the fact that Jaemin was just as drunk, sat on Mark’s ugly couch content to let Donghyuck curl up on his lap as the party happened around them, not penetrating their own little cosy bubble.

“You’re so handsome,” Donghyuck said, staring at Jaemin’s neck. He had a great Adam’s apple. He had a great everything.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jaemin murmured, looking down at Donghyuck with soft eyes. “You took my breath away in that hideous old shirt. So cute, Hyuckie, I kind of wanted to chew on you.”

“That shirt is a favourite of mine,” Donghyuck said, arguing just for the sake of it.

Jaemin, however, wasn’t playing Donghyuck’s game. “It’ll be just as good without food stains though, won’t it, angel? And if you miss it while it’s in the laundry, you can have one of my shirts instead.”

“Too expensive,” Donghyuck said. “I can’t wear your designer clothes.”

Jaemin giggled, high pitched and so funny that Donghyuck couldn’t help but laugh too. “I’m a fashion design student. Most of the clothes I wear are made from recycled fabric that I patched together.”

Donghyuck groaned, burying his face into Jaemin’s oh so inviting clavicle. “Make me a nice jacket, Jaemin,” he said, using the honeyed tone he usually saved for making Mark buy him takeout. “Something too big for me. Something with your name on it.”

“For your birthday I will,” Jaemin said, holding him tighter. “Or our first anniversary.”

That made Donghyuck look up. “You sound very sure we’ll last that long. We haven’t had a single date yet.”

“That just means the best is yet to come,” Jaemin said, kissing Donghyuck’s forehead again like his soft lips belonged there. “I like you a whole bunch so far, Lee Donghyuck. I want to annoy our friends together. I want to make you smile your beautiful smile.”

Donghyuck wanted to kiss Jaemin properly, but his head was spinning from the alcohol and he felt disorientated from the odd sensation in his chest, like Jaemin had thrown a rose scented bath bomb at Donghyuck’s heart and the fizz was filling him up. “I think I’m too drunk for this,” he admitted. “But I want to make you smile too.”

Jaemin laughed. “Well you’re doing a good job of it so far.” He shook his head, messing up his perfect hair. “I’m too drunk too, that shake kind of hurt my eyes. Uh, write down whatever I said, and I’ll say it again tomorrow when we’re both sober.”

Donghyuck pressed his lips together. “I’ve already forgotten most of it.”

“Me too,” Jaemin whispered in a conspirator’s tone. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Let’s just enjoy this drunken moment together.”

So they did. They stayed wrapped up together on the couch until the party wound down. Mark called a taxi for them both, and Jaemin made sure Donghyuck got dropped off first, then called him to make sure he’d made it inside of his apartment safely. Then he’d texted to demand Donghyuck drink some water, and then again to remind him to set an alarm.

They had a date the following day, after all.

-

The next morning, Jaemin met Donghyuck outside of the café where they’d first met only days before.

He wasn’t smiling for once, his expression miserable in the harsh sunlight, though his frown softened when his eyes landed on Donghyuck.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Donghyuck grunted. His alarm had felt like an axe hitting his temple, rolling out of bed a gargantuan task.

“Same,” Jaemin said. He kissed Donghyuck’s cheek and then pulled back to point at his own shirt. “I knew you’d wear yours, so I decided to wear mine.”

Donghyuck looked down at the stained shirt, loose and tucked into Jaemin’s grey joggers. He looked slobbish, but still so disgustingly attractive that Donghyuck’s dehydrated mouth dried up further. It turned out that he liked Jaemin in grey joggers just as much as he liked him in his expensive fabric scraps. “Damn,” Donghyuck said. He looked down at himself, surprised to see the all too familiar pepper stain. He hadn’t even realised which shirt he’d put on, too busy trying not to throw up as he scrambled to make it to the café in time. “You look way too hot.”

“I always do,” Jaemin said. He linked their fingers together and pulled Donghyuck through the double doors, a mirror of the previous evening of walking through swaying bodies, hands together.

When Renjun looked up from a table in the back of the café, his expression moved very quickly from bliss to horror. “What the fuck are you two doing here?”

Jaemin smiled, pulling out a chair for Donghyuck to sit in before squeezing in next to him. “I heard from Jeno that you’d be having brunch together, and we thought it would be nice to join you.”

Jeno looked at Jaemin with something close to dismay. “I told you it was a date. For me and my boyfriend.”

“I know,” Jaemin said. “But I thought it would be fun for us all if I came too and brought _my_ boyfriend.”

Renjun kicked Donghyuck under the table. “You’ve known each other for four days. What the hell are you doing?”

Donghyuck slung his arm over Jaemin’s shoulder and smiled past the pain of his throbbing head. Renjun’s glower was a balm to the hurt anyway. “We thought a double date would be fun.”

“You were wrong.”

A waitress passed, and Jaemin stopped her with a gentle noise. “Could we have two coffees to add to their order, please? Just add it to their bill.”

“Don’t add it to our bill!” Renjun said, aghast. “I’m not paying for your caffeine Jaemin, you’ll bankrupt me!”

“Don’t worry, I’m just getting a latte,” Jaemin said. He made a kissy face at Donghyuck, smiling when Donghyuck made the same face too. “I have all the energy I need right here.”

Renjun made a noise in his throat like he was seconds away from vomiting or throwing something. “Will you _leave?”_

“I thought you’d be happy for us,” Donghyuck said, pouting exaggeratedly. “You introduced us, after all. You gave Jaemin my number. You told me to come to Mark’s party.”

“Yeah, so you could date. Not crash _my_ date.”

Jaemin shrugged, pulling Donghyuck closer, his smile tickling the side of Donghyuck’s temple. “Semantics,” he said. “We’re all friends, right?”

Jeno looked to the ceiling. When he moved his gaze back to Jaemin, there was resignation in his gaze. “Well, since you’re here, do you want to share my waffles?”

“Jeno!” Renjun hissed. “Don’t give up your brunch for them!”

“I don’t want them to be hungry, and Jaemin always forgets his wallet if he hasn’t had his coffee.”

Jaemin nodded, not even embarrassed. “He’s right,” he said. “Luckily from now on I’ll have Donghyuck to remind me. He’s good at remembering things.”

“No he isn’t,” Renjun said, voice flat. “He forgot his socks the day you met.”

“Did he?” Jaemin asked. He smiled, bright. “Never mind. Learning something new about Donghyuck is always a pleasure.”

“I hate you both so much,” Renjun said. “Fuck you. What do you want to order? I’ll pay for it, but only this once.”

Donghyuck blew him a kiss. “Thank you, Junnie. I love you.”

“You’ll make me jealous, angel,” Jaemin murmured, kissing Donghyuck’s temple. He hid his laugh in Donghyuck’s hair when Renjun wretched.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Donghyuck said, barely holding back his laughter. 

Jeno sighed. “Can you piss off Renjun another time? He’s cutting off the circulation in my fingers because he’s holding so tightly.”

“Okay,” Jaemin said, relenting easily under Jeno’s soft puppy eyes. The waitress paused by their table and passed over two lattes, and Jaemin picked his up to gently clink against Donghyuck’s. “To us,” he said, eyes sparkling, “And to many more double dates to come.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank u so much for reading!! You can find me on twt @mntsnflrs, or leave me a comment! love to u all xo


End file.
